Saints have got the measure of Hearts Battling draw maintains recent Perth dominance over capital side
ST JOHNSTONE ........................1 HEARTS.......................................1
A quite astonishing stat surfaced in the build-up.
Hearts had not beaten St Johnstone in the league on their previous 13 trips through to McDiarmid Park.
It was an unwanted record stretching back almost 11 years and to an afternoon which saw Saints suffer a 2- 0 defeat on November 13, 2010.
On that day, Stevie May and Sam Parkin led the line in the closing stages.
When the in- form Jambos arrived in the Fair City on Wednesday evening there was a feeling that surely, just surely, it might be 14th time lucky.
First, there almost was no game at all. Late afternoon rain had intensified to the point that a 6.45pm pitch inspection was required.
It was undeniably damp and the Ormond Stand end was wetter than elsewhere but referee Steven McLean, after a few lobbed throws and low passes on the turf, was quick to give the green light.
The positive news from the man in the middle would be well- received by all parties although Perth manager Callum Davidson was most likely leaving McLean off this year’s Christmas card list by the half-time whistle.
The wet conditions catered perfectly for an abundance of slipping and sliding in front of a bumper crowd of more than 6000 boosted by a large following from
Pts 24 22 21 21 15 15 14 12 11 10 7 6 after the half-hour mark.
Hearts, undefeated this season, appeared shaky and none more so than in the 32nd minute when determined May charged down Scottish international goalkeeper Craig Gordon.
Suddenly the ball broke for Chris Kane whose beautifully struck, quick-thinking firsttime volley was beaten away by the recovering shot-stopper who was fortunate not to have conceded a second.
Hearts survived and would level proceedings five minutes before the interval. It arrived, however, in controversial circumstances.
Home players and management were screaming for both a handball and then a foul on Ali Crawford in the build-up. Perhaps the referee’s vision was blurred by the rain that continued to fall.
Regardless, Josh Ginnelly did not care a jot and proceeded to receive a pass before edging into the box and firing a crisp low drive across Zander Clark into the bottom corner.
Now, Davidson is never one to get too up nor down about the performance of an official but certainly in the first half he cut an extremely animated figure on the touchline.
“I’m disappointed in the way we’ve lost the goal,” Davidson reflected post-match.
“First of all I think it was a handball and then it was a free-kick on Ali Crawford. You can see his back foot is taken away from him.
“Apart from some decisions, I really enjoyed the game.
“It wasn’t like me in the first half. I’m normally pretty calm and see the bigger picture but it’s just costing us points at the moment.
“Decisions are going against us – a lot of them. Hopefully it turns for us in the next quarter and somebody else can have a wee moan.”
His mood would not have improved much when informed that both James Brown and Lars Dendoncker had picked up injuries in the first half and could not continue.
Reece Devine and Efe Ambrose were introduced for the start of the second half and, to their credit, slotted in comfortably to help soak up a fair amount of visiting pressure.
There was no denying that the capital club were the brighter side as the game progressed but Clark was forever a reassuring presence between the Perth posts.
The crowd of 6083 – it must be said that the singing section at the scoreboard end of the East Stand was in terrific voice – backed their favourites to conjure up a moment of magic in the closing stages.
It did not arrive, but Hearts’ unwanted Perth record remained.